Hairstyles in which hair on the head is pulled away from the face, gathered, secured at one or two places on the back of the head, and allowed to hang freely from those point(s), are popular with both men and women. The “ponytail” is a popular hairstyle in which most or all of the hair is gathered and secured at one place, commonly the middle of the back of the head or the base of the neck. The ponytail gets its name from its resemblance to the undocked tail of a horse or pony. “Pigtails” is a popular hairstyle in which the hair is parted down the middle and gathered into two bundles, one on each side of the head. The term “pigtail” originated from the resemblance of each of the secured bunches of hair to a twisted pig's tail.
In forming pigtails and ponytails, gathered bunches of hair are typically secured at or near the scalp with elastic bands, ribbons or strings, or barrettes. Each of these methods of securing bundled hair has drawbacks. Elastic bands can be difficult to position around bundled hair, and hair in contact with elastic bands is often pulled out when the bands are removed. Ribbons and strings must usually be tied around hair bundles by another person, and often slip away from the scalp during active use. Most barrettes are relatively complex and expensive mechanical devices.
It would thus be beneficial to have a relatively simple decorative device that can easily be installed by a user around his or her own bundled hair, and grips bundled hair with sufficient frictional force that the device stays in place even during active use.